If you are building a web page or already have one, chances are you have at least heard of meta tags. If you don't know what they are and how to use them, you are ignoring an easy opportunity to boost your website's traffic through better search engine placement. Fortunately, it is fast and easy to learn how to add meta tags to your website.

Steps

1

Familiarize yourself with the purpose of meta tags. Meta tags are HTML tags that allow you to provide keywords relevant to your site's content that help search engines index your site. By using meta tags, you improve your site's chances of being displayed high on a list of search engine results.

2

Decide what keywords you will list in your meta tags. These keywords should be relevant to your site's content. If your website is about turntable repair, you could list "turntable repair," "vinyl," "turntable," et cetera. There are a few things to remember when choosing your keywords.

There is no limit to the amount of keywords you can list. The more you list, the better your chances of being found.

Keywords should appear in the body of your site at least once. Some search engines check your keywords against the content of your page.

It works to your advantage to use both phrases and the individual words they contain. Even if you have already listed "turntable repair" as a keyword, go ahead and list "turntable" and "repair" separately too.

3

Write the meta tags into your website's source code. Meta tags should be placed inside your site's tags, anywhere after the "title" tag. There are 2 basic meta tags that you should implement.

The first is the keyword tag. This tag is used to list all your keywords. The syntax is fairly simple: < meta name = "keywords" content = "turntable, turntable repair, vinyl, records" >. All your keywords go in a list after the content designation.

The second is the description tag. This tag is used to index a short description of your site. The syntax is as follows: < meta name = "description" content = "The best turntable repair shop in Chicago." >. Your site's description should be placed in quotes after the content designation.

4

Decide if you want to implement other meta tags. There are many other things a meta tag can specify besides keywords and a description. Common ones are the website's author and the copyright information. Search the Internet for tips on how to fully take advantage of the more complex meta tag possibilities.

5

Consider augmenting your meta tags with other search engine optimization tactics. Meta tags are part of a broader practice called search engine optimization (SEO), which helps people find your website. Explore other options for improving your visibility, such as "pay-per-click" marketing � paying to be ranked highly on search results.

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Warnings

Don't intentionally misspell your meta tags in hopes of cashing in on misspelled search engine queries. Some search engines will check your meta tags against the body of your web page and penalize you if they don't match.